Monday, November 7, 2011

This piece is woven in a traditional style with muka (harakeke fiber) handles that can be used to draw the sides together."A pattern can be created from a combination of elements when plaiting. One element that determines the pattern is
the whakapapa, this is the arrangement and sequence in which the strips are
laid out at the commencement.Another
element is the use of colour, frequently seen as all the strips lying in one
direction being one colour, while those lying in the opposite direction are of
another colour.Once the work has been
commenced with this arrangement, patterns can be achieved by changing from
check to twill strokes.Other types of
whakapapa allow for the creation of other patterns. (Pendergrast 1984)"The mahitihiti group of patterns is known over a very wide area by
variations of the name such as mawhiti, mawhitiwhiti, kowhiti, kohitihiti.
Sometimes a descriptive term differentiates if the pattern is horizontal
(whakatakoto) and vertical (whakatutu) arrangements. This pattern is formed by changing the stroke from a vertical twill to
a horizontal twill, sometimes referred to as “one-two, two-one”. (Pendergrast 1984). Pae is used in western districts to describe horizontal patterns. Kahu TeKanawa references the kowhiti whakapae
pattern as relating to harvesting of food crops (TeKanawa 2009)

About Me

Through detailed manual processes and durational techniques of weaving Michelle Mayn’s work combines material, light, form and movement to create ephemeral and immersive installations and delicate ‘things’ that utilise intra-actions between material and environment.

Mayn was born in Auckland in Aotearoa, New Zealand and studied Traditional and Contemporary Maori Weaving at Unitec in 2011 and mixed media at The Art Students League of New York in 2017. Mayn has exhibited in New Zealand and the United States since 2010 and is currently completing a MVA at Auckland University of Technology.